6 ms·

One mistake many of us make (myself included) is making career choices based on money. Looking back, many of the jobs I took were just for the big pay increase

by blunte 6y ago

One mistake many of us make (myself included) is making career choices based on money. Looking back, many of the jobs I took were just for the big pay increase. But unsurprisingly, I wasn't happier. Worse, it became harder and harder to leave a job (or leave this IT career) because the idea of financial setback was bigger with each job. By no means am I rich. In fact, other life things erased my financial gains; so I'm left with less time in my life and few achievements or memories (work related) worth remembering. And while family and children are some of the best things in life, they also tend to be in conflict with hard career work and success. Some people pull it off, but most of us don't. My advice is to try to recognize when one's career is no longer fulfilling; save a little money along the way, and pivot hard in search of work/life satisfaction even if it means a big downgrade in income. And start a family ideally after you have explored the world and some of your dreams.

redelbee 6y ago
I never took a job just for the pay increase, but I definitely continued down a career path I knew was the wrong one because of the money. I tried to start multiple companies right out of college and failed at all of them, all while taking any other work I could to pay the bills. Working in a call center was by far the worst of the “other” work I did and it led me to consider getting a “real” job based on my skills and degree. I ended up convincing an advertising agency to hire me and decided to give it my all, despite my misgivings about the industry in general. I worked hard and even enjoyed some of it, and my title/pay/prestige all followed an upward trend as a result. After the first raise I said it would only be another year. Then I got promoted and I decided it would be another year after that. Then I got another raise and a promotion, then we were acquired, then a few more significant yearly raises after that. At some point I tried to convince myself that this was the right path, but I knew it wasn’t. I still wanted to be my own boss and run my own business. Seven years later and it was incredibly difficult to justify leaving all that money. I also hadn’t saved particularly well as I instead grew my lifestyle to match the money. None of it made me happy or gave me satisfaction, and I felt tied down to the job. As a solution my wife and I decided to move back to my hometown and start our own business together, even though we had tried to start another business together right after school. Thankfully this time it worked out, although we still have our disagreements about what the future of the business looks like. My advice to everyone is slightly different: chase the money if the opportunity arises, but don’t change your lifestyle. And keep working on other things on the side if you can. Maybe I wouldn’t have progressed as much in my “real” career had I had other side hustles, but I’m sure it would have been a less painful path than the one I took.
mangochutney 6y ago
Posting from a throwaway because I know my current team are also HNers and they know of my other account but (as I’m sure some can relate) My advice is to try to recognize when one's career is no longer fulfilling; save a little money along the way, and pivot hard in search of work/life satisfaction even if it means a big downgrade in income. Is exactly my plan in 2021. I’m leaving SWE and going back to school for finance and accounting. I’ve always enjoyed and been skilled at the numbers game and have done bookkeeping for a Local community outreach group for many years, I’ve found a very tangible calm doing something more quantitative than building CI/CD pipelines and roadmaps and oncall and feature standups and andnand and and and. I am so thoroughly burned out, disaffected and otherwise sick of my career and some of the doing this after 17 years that I’ve begun having legitimate anxiety attacks. I had two sitting at my desk last week. When I turned around to get up and get a glass of water I saw the dog cowering in the corner. He had never seen me like that. That’s when I knew it was time to go. Well, actually no I knew several years ago but the golden handcuffs were clamped tight and I was too scared to go. Not anymore. Bye.
- BlargMcLarg 6y ago
  If I may: what exactly is the reason for the SWE disdain? From your post, I can kind-of relate with my own disdain for enterprise practices attempting to turn the field into a factory job and piling on more and more responsibilities. Despite that, I still hold a love for creating things through code (which is also rapidly being taken away by these practices). This is not to dissuade your choice. Rather, I'm looking for similarities between myself and others, and potential pitfalls to avoid.
  - simonbarker87 6y ago
    At the risk of putting words in OPs mouth, sounds like SCRUM burn out and continually keeping up with changing tech. I wish them the best of luck with their change of career.
    - mangochutney 6y ago
      Eh, you're not wrong, amigo. And thanks for the words.
chasd00 6y ago
the key is knowing what will make you happier. To some people a pay increase makes them happier regardless of the actual work being done. To others, not so much. my own two cents is consider work as only an income stream for you (and your family if you have one). Making your passion your career just turns what you love into the daily grind of your job. I like my job but I sure as shit will not do it for free. My passions in life I will gladly do for free
serial_dev 6y ago
It's good to reflect on your career and whether it brings fulfillment, and in your case, it sounds like your advice makes sense. However, pivoting to something you think brings happiness is not always a great advice. It's worth mentioning the "So Good They Can't Ignore You" book by Cal Newport, which basically argues (I give you my simplified interpretation, I might be botching it) that happiness comes when you become very good at something, and changing careers in the pursuit of happiness will make you be less good in something and in extension, also less happy.
MetalGuru 6y ago
Assuming those life things would have happened regardless of whether or not you had the money to cover them, where would you be if you hadn't had the money?

by blunte 6y ago

redelbee 6y ago

I never took a job just for the pay increase, but I definitely continued down a career path I knew was the wrong one because of the money. I tried to start multiple companies right out of college and failed at all of them, all while taking any other work I could to pay the bills. Working in a call center was by far the worst of the “other” work I did and it led me to consider getting a “real” job based on my skills and degree. I ended up convincing an advertising agency to hire me and decided to give it my all, despite my misgivings about the industry in general. I worked hard and even enjoyed some of it, and my title/pay/prestige all followed an upward trend as a result. After the first raise I said it would only be another year. Then I got promoted and I decided it would be another year after that. Then I got another raise and a promotion, then we were acquired, then a few more significant yearly raises after that. At some point I tried to convince myself that this was the right path, but I knew it wasn’t. I still wanted to be my own boss and run my own business. Seven years later and it was incredibly difficult to justify leaving all that money. I also hadn’t saved particularly well as I instead grew my lifestyle to match the money. None of it made me happy or gave me satisfaction, and I felt tied down to the job. As a solution my wife and I decided to move back to my hometown and start our own business together, even though we had tried to start another business together right after school. Thankfully this time it worked out, although we still have our disagreements about what the future of the business looks like. My advice to everyone is slightly different: chase the money if the opportunity arises, but don’t change your lifestyle. And keep working on other things on the side if you can. Maybe I wouldn’t have progressed as much in my “real” career had I had other side hustles, but I’m sure it would have been a less painful path than the one I took.

mangochutney 6y ago

Posting from a throwaway because I know my current team are also HNers and they know of my other account but (as I’m sure some can relate) My advice is to try to recognize when one's career is no longer fulfilling; save a little money along the way, and pivot hard in search of work/life satisfaction even if it means a big downgrade in income. Is exactly my plan in 2021. I’m leaving SWE and going back to school for finance and accounting. I’ve always enjoyed and been skilled at the numbers game and have done bookkeeping for a Local community outreach group for many years, I’ve found a very tangible calm doing something more quantitative than building CI/CD pipelines and roadmaps and oncall and feature standups and andnand and and and. I am so thoroughly burned out, disaffected and otherwise sick of my career and some of the doing this after 17 years that I’ve begun having legitimate anxiety attacks. I had two sitting at my desk last week. When I turned around to get up and get a glass of water I saw the dog cowering in the corner. He had never seen me like that. That’s when I knew it was time to go. Well, actually no I knew several years ago but the golden handcuffs were clamped tight and I was too scared to go. Not anymore. Bye.

BlargMcLarg 6y ago
If I may: what exactly is the reason for the SWE disdain? From your post, I can kind-of relate with my own disdain for enterprise practices attempting to turn the field into a factory job and piling on more and more responsibilities. Despite that, I still hold a love for creating things through code (which is also rapidly being taken away by these practices). This is not to dissuade your choice. Rather, I'm looking for similarities between myself and others, and potential pitfalls to avoid.
- simonbarker87 6y ago
  At the risk of putting words in OPs mouth, sounds like SCRUM burn out and continually keeping up with changing tech. I wish them the best of luck with their change of career.
  - mangochutney 6y ago
    Eh, you're not wrong, amigo. And thanks for the words.

chasd00 6y ago

the key is knowing what will make you happier. To some people a pay increase makes them happier regardless of the actual work being done. To others, not so much. my own two cents is consider work as only an income stream for you (and your family if you have one). Making your passion your career just turns what you love into the daily grind of your job. I like my job but I sure as shit will not do it for free. My passions in life I will gladly do for free

serial_dev 6y ago

It's good to reflect on your career and whether it brings fulfillment, and in your case, it sounds like your advice makes sense. However, pivoting to something you think brings happiness is not always a great advice. It's worth mentioning the "So Good They Can't Ignore You" book by Cal Newport, which basically argues (I give you my simplified interpretation, I might be botching it) that happiness comes when you become very good at something, and changing careers in the pursuit of happiness will make you be less good in something and in extension, also less happy.

MetalGuru 6y ago

Assuming those life things would have happened regardless of whether or not you had the money to cover them, where would you be if you hadn't had the money?